Nearly 160 participants planned to camp under the wings of their
planes.
Total registration for the event had topped 1,700, but closer to
3,000 attendees are expected, according to airport director Fred
Salisbury.

“It should be a packed house,” he said.

Weather forecasts should help boost attendance. The
National Weather Service predicts sunny skies and temperatures
in the high 80s this weekend.

The Bremerton event will double the size of the
AOPA Fly-In Spokane hosted in 2014, which attracted 1,500
attendees and 240 planes. (A torrential rainstorm the day before
festivities began dampened attendance.)

Big registration numbers for Bremerton are encouraging
to organizers, who believe the event will provide an economic
boost to the area.

AOPA Fly-Ins typically generate about $680,000 for the local
economy, according to the association. The conventions create
business for hotels, transportation companies, food vendors and
contractors.

Jack Edwards, manager of
Bremerton’s Baymont Inn & Suites, said roughly one-third of
his rooms (about 50 units) were booked for the weekend
by Fly-In participants. He started receiving reservations from
AOPA members as early as April.

“We’re still getting calls from them, but we’re
full,” Edwards said.

Visitors who waited until this week to book rooms
would be hard pressed to vacancies anywhere in Bremerton, he
said.

“The AOPA very prestigious national
organization and their West Coast event offers locals new
opportunities to introduce hundreds tourists to the region,”
Graf-Hoke said in an email. “Guests are filling up hotel rooms
which is good for local businesses and the economy.”

Revenue was up nearly 30 percent, a change of
about $2 million, January through April this year, compared
with the first four months of 2015. Demand for lodging
(the total number of room sold) was up 18 percent.

The average price for a gallon of regular in Kitsap was
$2.014 per gallon Monday, up just a hair from a week ago when it
was $1.995.

Filling up was still cheaper than a year ago, when the
average price was $2.788.

Nationally, the average price of gas has been under $2 for
most the year, but is now climbing.

AAA noted price swings are typical this time of
year as refineries conduct maintenance. The
association predicts generous supplies of gasoline and low
crude oil cost will keep prices from climbing as high as in
previous years.

At $2.03 per gallon, Washington is one of only four states in
the country where the average price of gas is more than $2.

“Studies have shown, and our
customers have repeatedly told us that the number one utility they
value bar none is connectivity,” port CEO Jim Rothlin said in the
announcement. “It’s also the number one frustration they have with
marinas as it can so often be weak, slow and unreliable.

The network provides a 125-megabyte-per-second access link
shared by both facilities, which can be scaled up to 1
gigabyte-per-second as demand increases.

In an email, Rothlin said the agency spent about
$150,000 installing a fiber optic backbone and Wi-Fi system at
both marinas.

Hardware chosen for the network had to be especially rugged to
survive in the corrosive marine environment.

“I would say the biggest challenges
were getting coverage through all parts each marina, dealing with
getting coverage within covered moorage, and keeping the connection
across the two marinas as the tide goes in and out,” Rothlin
said.

The study, conducted by Northwest economists, estimated the golf
championship gave a $134 million boost to the economies
of Pierce, King, Kitsap and Thurston counties.

Local governments spent about $7.6 million on the event, with
more than $4 million coming from Pierce County.

The tournament, which ran June 15-21, attracted about 110,000
unique attendees to the Pierce County golf course. More than
half came from surrounding counties, while one-third
traveled from other states.

“No other one week event in
the history of the Pacific Northwest has had a greater economic
impact,” Pierce County Executive Pat McCarthy said in a new
release.

The direct economic benefit to Kitsap County was relatively
small, but not insignificant.

Founders Jean and Jim Boyle plan to step away after their tour
season ends in November. They hope to sell the company before
then.

“I’d like to see someone take the business and do a lot more
with it, rather than shutting the doors and selling the bus,” Jean
said. “There are so many more opportunities.”

Kitsap Tours picks up passengers from the Bainbridge Island
ferry and shuttles them to popular West Sound destinations. A video
monitor in the bus plays interpretive footage along the way.

The company’s three main
tour packages include a visit to Bloedel Reserve, an excursion
around Bainbridge Island, and a foray from the island into Poulsbo,
Port Gamble and Suquamish.Trips to the Olympic Peninsula and local
farms are offered periodically. The business operates four days a
week.

Jean sees potential for a new owner to expand Kitsap Tours with
more vehicles (it currently has one bus) and a broader offering of
tours and shuttle services. She said the company grown steadily
since launching in 2010 and drew more than 1,000 tourists to Kitsap
last year. It’s well reviewed on sites like TripAdvisor.

The Boyles are looking forward to spending more time in their
garden, but they’ll also miss life as tour guides.